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- By Theo Leggett
- Business correspondent, BBC News
Image source, Alaska Airlines
The January mid-air explosion involved an Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9, like this one
“It’s like I’m watching a troubled child,” is how Captain Dennis Tajer describes flying a Boeing 737 Max.
The head of the Allied Pilots Association, the American Airlines pilots’ union, insists he would never board a plane if it were not safe.
But he says he can no longer take the quality of the plane he flies for granted.
“I’m in a state of alert that I’ve never been in on a Boeing airplane,” he says.
“Because I don’t trust that they followed the processes that have kept me safe on Boeing airplanes for more than three decades.”
Executives at the aerospace giant’s shiny new headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, could be forgiven for feeling beleaguered.
Every day seems to bring more negative headlines for the company, which is under pressure from regulators and airlines and has seen its reputation severely damaged.
An initial report by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board concluded that four bolts intended to securely attach the door to the plane had not been installed.
Boeing is reportedly facing a criminal investigation into the incident itself, as well as legal action by passengers aboard the plane.
Image source, Dennis Tajer
Captain Dennis Tajer says he is “on a state of alert that I’ve never had to be on in a Boeing airplane.”
But although no one was seriously injured, the affair had much wider repercussions. It highlighted the corporate culture and attitude towards safety of the aerospace giant.
Five years ago, Boeing faced one of the biggest scandals in its history, after two new 737 Max planes were lost in nearly identical crashes that cost 346 lives.
The cause was faulty flight control software, the details of which he was accused of deliberately hiding from regulators.
It reaffirmed its commitment to safety, and in early 2020, its new CEO, Dave Calhoun, promised it could “do better. Much better.”
However, the scrutiny that followed the incident in January of this year has called that commitment into question.
Addressing those concerns, in January 2023, CEO Dave Calhoun said, “We’ll go slow, we won’t rush the system, and we’ll take our time to get it right.”
Earlier this month, the US regulator, the Federal Aviation Administration, said a six-week audit of the 737 Max production process at Boeing and its supplier Spirit Aerosystems had found “multiple instances in which the companies failed to comply with manufacturing quality control requirements.
The findings came shortly after another report A study by an expert panel into Boeing’s safety culture found a “disconnect” between top management and regular staff, as well as signs that staff were hesitant to report problems for fear of retaliation.
Adam Dickson, a former top executive at Boeing who once worked on the 737 Max program, agrees that there is a chasm between executives and factory workers.
“It’s been toxic to trust Boeing’s culture for more than a decade,” he says.
“You can add security measures, you can add procedures. But the fundamental issue of mistrust makes those changes almost ineffective,” he says.
Meanwhile, more evidence emerged this week of how production issues could jeopardize safety.
The FAA warned that improperly installed wiring packages on 737 Max planes could be damaged, causing wing controls to deploy unexpectedly and causing the plane to begin taxiing.
If not addressed, he said, this “could result in loss of control of the aircraft.” As a result, hundreds of aircraft already in service will have to be overhauled.
Boeing said, based on the FAA audit, that it was continuing to “implement immediate changes and develop a comprehensive action plan to strengthen safety and quality, and build trust with our customers and their passengers.”
A recent report found a “disconnect” between Boeing’s top management and regular staff
But concerns about Boeing’s production standards are far from new.
As quality manager for the 787 Dreamliner program, he said the rush to build planes as quickly as possible to maximize profits had led to unsafe practices.
Among a series of accusations, he told the BBC that in some cases under-pressure workers had deliberately installed substandard aircraft parts on the production line.
Boeing denied his claims. But his untimely death, which occurred between legal hearings in a lawsuit against the company, has focused new attention on them.
The crisis of the aerospace giant is causing problems for airlines.
Ryanair has warned that delays in deliveries of new aircraft will drive up prices for passengers in Europe this summer. US airline Southwest plans to reduce its capacity this year because it cannot get the planes it needs.
See: ‘Journey from hell’: on board the flight during a mid-air explosion
Some airlines may try to obtain Airbus models to replace lost Boeings. But a complete transfer of orders from the American manufacturer to the European one is simply impractical.
Both have very complete order books. Airbus has an order book of more than 8,000 aircraft and Boeing more than 6,000.
Airlines already have to wait longer than they would like to receive new planes. Airbus has had its own supply chain problems, causing delivery delays.
There is a potential third player. The Chinese manufacturer Comac has developed the C919, an aircraft designed to compete with the 737 Max and the A320 neo.
But that program is still in its infancy. In 2028 it will produce only 150 aircraft per year.
In other words, the market needs Boeing to be healthy and quickly overcome its current problems. So can that happen?
According to Ed Pierson, executive director of the Aviation Safety Foundation, the problems involved are complex, but they have solutions.
A former Boeing whistleblower himself, he has spent years lobbying regulators to take a tough approach to the company.
“Boeing, its suppliers, airlines and government agencies are capable of overcoming these challenges, but the first step to solving these problems is to be honest,” he says.
“They need to admit that these problems exist and stop trying to twist the truth. The more they twist, the longer it takes to resolve the problems and the greater the risk.”
Boeing says that in recent years it has “never hesitated to slow down, stop production or stop deliveries to take the time we need to get things right.”
It added that it has launched a “Speak Up” program that encourages staff to raise issues that need to be addressed.